Introduction to Summer & Winter Weave
All Levels Welcome
Required Skills:
Must be able to warp a 4-shaft loom. Must be able to weave plain weave or a simple twill.
Class Length:
Two and a Half Days
Class Times:
You will weave on your own 4 shaft loom to make a long sampler showcasing all the various ways to treadle the Summer and Winter weave structure. Everyone will receive the same threading draft. Lectures will teach you how to design your own patterns. Summer and Winter is the perfect weave structure for the beginning weaver who already knows how to warp and weave plain weave or twill, and wants to learn a more elaborate weave structure that is easy to understand. Intermediate and advanced weavers will also learn about different treadling techniques, different drafting techniques and draw ups, and weave structures variations that require different threadings.
Registration Fees:
For FTWG Members: $450
For all others: $525
Materials Fee:
$10
Materials Fee Includes:
Notebook and handouts, yarns for pattern wefts
Registration Fees are paid when you register to attend the FTWG Conference. Materials fees are paid directly to the instructor at the beginning of class. You should plan to pay the materials fee in cash.
- A 4-shaft loom, already warped to a draft provided by the instructor
- 3 or more shuttles
- 10/2 pearl cotton that matches the warp yarn
- A straight knitting needle, any size, 10 inches or longer, to be used for picking up freeform patterns
- Scissors
- Pen or pencil to take notes
- Various odds and ends to use as pattern wefts, like knitting wools, boules, rayons, thick silks, 5/2 pearl cotton, 8/2 or 10/2 pearl cotton in different colors
Berna Lowenstein learned to knit in school in England at the age of 5 and has loved everything that can be done with yarn ever since. She taught herself to spin when she was 30 and then learned weaving and Kumihimo a few months later, and has never let up. She has been active in Weavers of Orlando for the past 35 years and taught many programs and workshops. She’s won awards from FTWG and HGA and been featured in Handwoven, Weavers, and Shuttle Spindle and Dyepot magazines. Summer and Winter was the very first weaving workshop Berna ever took, and she became a lifelong fan of the weave structure. She believes it’s the perfect first weave structure for the new weaver who is comfortable with their loom but wants to learn how to do more than plain weave and twill.
These photos were provided by the instructor to demonstrate the experience of taking this class.
